The Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre (WSBRC) provides a central reference point for environmental information on geology, habitats, sites and species. Visit the WSBRC website >
Sending in your wildlife records to the WSBRC or becoming a volunteer monitor, helps the WSBRC establish accurate records of the distribution of different species throughout Wiltshire and Swindon. This is particularly important when it comes to BAP species, which by their very nature are rare or suffering population decline. By establishing their distribution, conservation efforts can be best targeted, and progress can be measured.
All environmental records are important, from the most common to the rare, from flocks of birds in the air, to fish in a river – all of these encompass what Biodiversity Swindon is all about – Biodiversity!
The WSBRC would love to hear about the wildlife that you’ve seen – whether it be the robin that you see every day in your garden, the Peacock butterfly that you see on your afternoon walk, or the squirrel in your local park.
There are four essentials to remember in order to provide the WSBRC with really useful records:
1. What is the species? Give its Latin name if you know it, but the English name will be sufficient
2. Where did you see it – give as precise a location as you can, a six figure grid reference, postcode, or precisely described location. Click here to go to the National Grid website and their step by step guide showing how to work out a grid reference.
3. When did you see it – day, month, year
4. Who saw it – the name of the recorder
Records can be sent to the WSBRC by post, email, or by using the online recording form.
Post – WSBRC, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Elm Tree Court, Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1NJ
Email: use the email box below or email your completed recording form to brc@wiltshirewildlife.org.
Link to online wildlife recording form – opens WSBRC website, go to 'your records'
Download an Excel spreadsheet to use for multiple recordings - 42kb
Download an Excel spreadsheet to use for single recordings - 31kb
As well as giving your detailed records to the WSBRC, tell us your highlights from this month for our bulletin board!
Use the email box below to tell us your highlights...
Visit the featured species pages to find out what wildlife is out and about this month in Swindon!
Recording the wildlife and ecology of the same site over a number of years (monitoring) helps us to understand how that environment is changing. If enough sites are regularly monitored, we can begin to build up a picture of the changing face of Wiltshire. This is where you could make a real contribution!
Visit the WSBRC website to find out more about the following schemes:
- River monitoring
- Protected road verges
- Hedgerow recording
- Living churchyards and cemeteries
- County recorders
Joining the Wroughton volunteer hedgerow survey scheme will help us towards meeting the Swindon BAP target of 30km of hedgerow surveyed (Hedgerow Action Plan, target HG2).
Water Vole Recovery Project
Another scheme you could join to help monitor Swindon’s wildlife, is the Water Vole Recovery Project at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. After receiving training, volunteers go out in pairs to survey Swindon’s rivers and streams, looking for signs of this elusive creature. If you are interested in becoming a water vole surveyor, the next set of training days will be held in April-time. Contact the Swindon Volunteers Officer at the Wildlife Trust to put your name on the list by using the email box below.
By becoming a volunteer water vole surveyor, you can help towards Swindon BAP target: WL7 – Wetland target number 7 – To monitor water vole populations using a network of volunteers.